READING: Psalm 6-9
Reading these passages can be a little bit of an emotional roller coaster. David is weeping so much at first that his bed is soaked with tears. Then he's angry, a righteous kind of angry that calls out to the Lord but is also very passionate. Then he rejoices in the goodness that God bestows to man. Then he claims victory that God is the right and true judge. Then he asks for God to demolish the wicked. What is he right now? Is he happy? Sad? Really ticked off? Who knows?!
We can look at the timing of the passages to determine circumstantial evidence that affects these emotions. For now, however, I want to hone in on a major juxtaposition in the passages. On one side, David cries out to God in grief because men all around him have fallen into wickedness. They are seeking evil things. They are seeking to destroy David. They are fleeing from the leadership of God, the true Author of this world. On the other side, David is joyful that God has given some of his glory to man and than man has a place in God's eyes. The same glory and awe that God used to create the universe and establish its order is the glory that he uses to crown humans as the dominators of that earth. In summary, humans are really bad, and then humans are really good. What's the disconnect?
Righteousness. Every thing that causes grief in David's eyes is a pursuit of man's ways, of wickedness, of deceit and selfishness. These things are not righteousness. They do not follow the model of what God designed man to do. So it looks ugly. It looks broken. It ain't workin'. But there is also the established dominion of man, the role of man that is full of honor, of cultivating the earth and its beasts, of being looked upon as greater than the stars. Those who seek to give life to the earth, who are not selfish. The righteous.
To the point, chasing after our own actually destroys us. We are limited humans with limited mindsets, and so in seeking after ourselves we are bound by limits. Chasing after God, however, is eternal. He is not bound to time. He is not bound in creativity. He is not bound in love, in goodness, in faithfulness. If he is forever good and living, our seeking after him will allow us to tap into that eternity of the living. The righteous. The joyful.
We can look at the timing of the passages to determine circumstantial evidence that affects these emotions. For now, however, I want to hone in on a major juxtaposition in the passages. On one side, David cries out to God in grief because men all around him have fallen into wickedness. They are seeking evil things. They are seeking to destroy David. They are fleeing from the leadership of God, the true Author of this world. On the other side, David is joyful that God has given some of his glory to man and than man has a place in God's eyes. The same glory and awe that God used to create the universe and establish its order is the glory that he uses to crown humans as the dominators of that earth. In summary, humans are really bad, and then humans are really good. What's the disconnect?
Righteousness. Every thing that causes grief in David's eyes is a pursuit of man's ways, of wickedness, of deceit and selfishness. These things are not righteousness. They do not follow the model of what God designed man to do. So it looks ugly. It looks broken. It ain't workin'. But there is also the established dominion of man, the role of man that is full of honor, of cultivating the earth and its beasts, of being looked upon as greater than the stars. Those who seek to give life to the earth, who are not selfish. The righteous.
To the point, chasing after our own actually destroys us. We are limited humans with limited mindsets, and so in seeking after ourselves we are bound by limits. Chasing after God, however, is eternal. He is not bound to time. He is not bound in creativity. He is not bound in love, in goodness, in faithfulness. If he is forever good and living, our seeking after him will allow us to tap into that eternity of the living. The righteous. The joyful.